Packed in bubble envelopes, the sixty vials each contained 0.1 grams of powdered bear bile, a substance commonly extracted in Asia for its medicinal properties. The woman was stopped by customs officers as she passed through the ‘Nothing to Declare’ zone.

The woman claimed to have bought the medicines for an ailing friend but was unable to produce any CITES documentation certifying her to carry medicines made using endangered species.

First signed in 1973, the CITES multinational treaty seeks to protect endangered plants and animals from illegal trade.

Aneta Bulik, the CITES coordinator at the Warsaw tax office, said: “All bears are protected by CITES. The international transport of both living or dead bears, or their body parts, secretions, or substances originating from them, is limited and requires the possession and presentation of the appropriate permits.”

Bear bile has been traditionally used in Chinese medicine to treat a number of ailments ranging from gallstones to liver disease, with high demand directly blamed for the drastic decline in the number of Tibetan and Malayan bears. Often held in cramped cages, bears bred for their bile are subjected to notoriously cruel treatment.

The woman now faces between three months and five years in prison.